[Leica] Tom A's Month of May

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

In the beginning of May, I was having trouble with my back. Being stubborn, I 
thought it was the typical camera bag carrying occupational hazard of the 
photographer as well as some excess hanging over the lathe. I was wrong, boy 
was I wrong! After collapsing at home and quickly being shipped off to the 
hospital by Tuulikki, my doctor and a good friend (at which time I was 
foaming around the mouth, having interesting flashbacks to 60's and talking 
in a language unknown to anyone around me). I was diagnosed with Multiple 
Myeloma, a form of Bone Marrow cancer. It affects the red blood cells and is 
a rather nasty condition and is rare (collectible?). It was caught midway, 
but not until it had done some collateral damage to two vertebras in my spine 
as well as having affected nerves to my feet. All in all I was in Exc- 
condition. It has taken a month to get somewhat mobile- a cane and short 
small walks. The effect of the disease is also that I lost almost 50% of my 
muscle-mass in legs and shoulders, so what usually is a 1-2  minute walk is 
now a 10-15 planned excursion. The good news is that the Multiple Myeloma is 
a treatable condition, although not a curable one. According to the medical 
experts I still have to check expiry dates on film.
 There are several ways to deal with news like this. The introverted way or  
the other way. I chose the other way and with friends locally and 
internationally rallying around me, we had a week long party when I came back 
from the hospital. There was Joseph Yao from Hong Kong, Adrian Bradshaw from 
Beijing, Peter Choy from SF, and all my local Leica/photo-friends. Our 
townhouse resounded with camera shutters, discussions about Photography, back 
focus problem with Hexars and  tests of a variety of lenses. It certainly 
kept me from feeling sorry for myself! When things like this happens, it is 
the friends around you that count and I am blessed with many of those. 
Tuulikki is doing her nurse imitation and without her it would have been 
impossible to even comprehend how I could manage anything. Phonecalls and 
e-mails with get wells wishes as well as cards and letters. Thanks to you all 
and you certainly know how to get the spirit up on the patient!
 Obviously, this has put a stop to the production of the Rapidwinder for the 
foreseeable future. The treatment and therapy needed to get me from the Exc- 
condition to a more modest Exc+ is going to take months and involve stuff 
like Chemo-therapy, physical build up of muscles and in the end probably 
bone-marrow transplant. All of this will occupy my time for the next 2-3 
months. I am looking into some limited options of having assembly of parts 
done by someone else and I do final assembly and checking, but even that will 
take at least a month to 6 weeks to plan and will be a low priority on my 
time. Softreleases and Rapidgrips are less time consuming and will remain in 
production as we speak. 
 This is the first time I have sat down in front of the PC for 5 weeks and 
even a short message like this is having my back protesting, so I will sign 
off shortly. Tuulikki reads the LUG/LEG/CVUG and prints out what she thinks I 
might bee interested in seeing.
 I have reduced my cameras for my walks to 1. It is the Millenium M6 with a 
recently installed 0,58 finder and the 35/2 Asph on it (and 
Rapidwinder/Softie) .It is as close as a M2/35 in the 60's that I can come 
and exposed film is actually starting too pile up in the fridge. A healthy 
sign if there ever was one.
 I will to participate in the LUG/LEG/CVUG stuff when I feel up to it but 
please be prepared for some delays. The medical profession is poking me with 
enough needles to have me look like a teabag.
Signing off and limping off over to the horizon with a black paint cane (with 
a red dot), courtesy of Joseph Yao.
All the best,
Tom A
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Tom & Tuulikki Abrahamsson
One-Off Industrial Designs
   #203-1512 Yew Street
  Vancouver, BC
  V6K 3E4
  Canada
  Tel:  604-731-0036
   www.rapidwinder.com (Rapidwinder, Softrelease and  Rapidgrip information)